Review: Daring Miss Danvers by Vivienne Lorret

Reviewed by Jen

Viscount Rathburn wants nothing more than to claim his inheritance. It’s not for the reasons most young men would want the money, though. He wants to build a burn hospital in honor of the father he lost to a fire. But his grandmother is keeping a tight leash on the funds. She’ll only give him the money if he marries a suitable young woman.

Emma is Rathburn’s best friend’s sister. She is proper and poised, almost to the point of being uptight. In other words, she is exactly the kind of woman his grandmother would approve of. So he approaches her parents to help him convince her to play the part of his betrothed.

Emma has always considered Rathburn a bit of a thorn in her side, a flirtatious and irritating annoyance. She is shocked when he enlists her parents to convince her to set up a faux engagement to pacify his grandmother. Convince is really a nice way of saying they steamrolled her. But she goes along with the ruse because she wants to make her parents happy.

What neither she nor Rathburn seem to realize, is that their prickly relationship was really a front for a mutual attraction. While it’s obvious to all of their family and friends, it takes these two a bit longer to figure it out. In fact, it’s a little frustrating at times to see these two floundering around when what they both want is so clearly right in front of them. The story follows their pretend romance as it slowly reveals itself to be all too real.

I liked the story fairly well. I appreciate that Rathburn realizes Emma’s worth pretty fast and makes a decision early on to pursue her in truth. She’s a bit slower on the uptake, but not so clueless as to make her unlikable. She’s just… insecure. I wish she would have been more accepting of herself. It would have made things so much easier. That being said, there really wasn’t much of a hindrance to the romance, beyond the main characters’ insecurities and need for validation. There was no external conflict at all. And the internal one was pretty weak. The story progresses pretty much exactly as you would expect, but it is pleasant and comfortable.

It doesn’t really tread any new ground or have any surprises, but it makes for a fairly nice afternoon read, with a satisfying conclusion.